Walk That Line.........
by Moloko Vellocet
Summary: It's a thin line between love and hate..........who shall love and who shall loathe? My first HP fic, and its sure to be full of-well, mistakes! R/R please!
1. It's Not So Bad.......

Chapter One

This is my first HP fic ever, and I'm sure that's it's really bad so please review so I can get better! And, this one isn't very romantic yet, but I'm getting there….me and my cliches.

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Chapter One

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"And then you call me, and it's not so bad, it's not so bad…"

"Hey, Mudblood!"

Hermione shook her head and turned in Draco's direction. "What is it _this_ time, Malfoy?"

A smug look overcame Draco's face. "You know the Ball tomorrow night? Pick you up at seven."

She let out a condescending laugh. "Do you find this ploy usually works, Malfoy? Or, let me guess—you've never tried it before? Of course, if I go along to the ball with you, I'll discover the inner you—nothing at _all_ like the outer you I've been exposed to for the past five years. A little bit cautious, a little bit bad—the perfect man. Am I right?"

Draco was rather taken aback by Hermione's retort. "I…uh? Yeah, well…same to you!" He stared at Hermione's retreating back and began to walk a little bit faster so that he could keep up. Ron rolled his eyes.

"…damn ferrets…don't know when to give up…"

Hermione giggled at Ron's comment as Draco managed to trip over one of the many coats of armour that adorned the hallway. As they began to turn the corner into the stairs that led to the dungeons, Harry grabbed Hermione from behind. She screamed, thinking it was Draco, and turned quickly, wand poised, ready to defend herself.

Harry threw his hands up into the air. "I surrender, fair maiden!" She giggled as he pulled her towards him and kissed her quickly on the nose. Ron shook his head at them, and they spent so much time lingering on the stairs that Draco slunk past, his smirk back in place, and his composure regained enough to yell out a profanity to the trio before entering the potions classroom.

Ron noticed that the door was closing and motioned to the others that it was time to go. They raced down and slipped through the doorway just before Snape slammed it shut. "Well, well, well," he muttered, "late for class _again,_ are we Potter? Weasley? Granger?" He looked towards the Slytherin's in the room. "Should I simply berate them for their tardiness? Or perhaps something more…serious…is in order?" The Slytherin's all nodded. "Any ideas, then?"

A loud murmur came over the classroom: Slytherin's voicing their ideas while the Gryffindor's voiced their outrage. Pansy Parkinson felt the need to shout her idea above all the others. "Detention, Professor! In the Forbidden Forest!"

Snape seemed to like this idea, so he returned to his desk and wrote in a small date book on his desk. Harry, Ron and Hermione stood at the front of the classroom, unsure of what to do. Harry lent in and whispered to the other two. "I'll bet the only thing he ever writes in _there_ are detentions…unless he's got a secret relationship with Filch!"

The professor heard Harry's comment and felt his pulse quicken with rage, but he held it in as he gestured to the three to seat themselves. Once everyone was in order, he called out that today he would be conducting a practical test, and for everyone to brew the potion they had been working on the previous week for testing—in _silence._ With that, he settled himself down at his desk and began marking third-year papers, with only the occasional clink of metal disturbing him.

A loud crash broke the silence that had settled over the Potions classroom. Snape's head snapped up, and he glared straight towards the three who stood rather sheepishly at the back of the room, Ron's cauldron lying on the floor and the contents—atop Pansy Parkinson's head. The latter was squealing even more shrilly than usual, due to the size of her new mouth. Snape narrowed his eyes and allowed a smirk to creep across his pallid face. "Yet again, it seems that the tactless trio have disturbed my class. Twenty points from Gryffindor." 

Harry was indignant. "But, Professor! It wasn't even our fault! Draco—"

"Keep talking, Potter, and I'll make it fifty. Miss Parkinson, I'll restore your mouth to its original size if you'll stop squawking like a parrot and join me down the front." Pansy, with a toss of her head, making her huge mouth flap around rather comically(which caused Ron to collapse on his chair in a fit of giggles), walked to the front and allowed Professor Snape to repair her face. 

Not soon after, the bell went, signalling the end of class for the day.


	2. Are You Content?

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

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"Something grows in your garden-is is content?"

The next morning during breakfast, Professor McGonagall stood at the teachers table and cleared her throat, signalling for everyone to look to her. Only several Slytherin's ignored her and continued to whisper amongst themselves. She began to speak anyway:

"As you well know, the recent rise of You-Know-Who caused rather an uproar in the magical community. Like it was nearly fifteen years ago, families were divided, friends were suspicious of each other and many alliances were demolished. However, since the _definite _demise of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named at the hands of our own Harry Potter—" this caused Harry's face to flush bright red "—Hogwarts is attempting to repair some of the ties that were broken so many years ago and bring the magical community back together again. And, so, I introduce to you our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher—Professor Anaïs Snape!"

A woman entered the room, her long, ebony hair cascading down her purple dress robes, making a startling contrast with her hair and with her deep blue eyes. She stared around the room for a moment, seeming to absorb everyone's attention in a single moment. She glanced at the teacher's table only to see Severus staring back at her, his expression one of utter fear.

Anaïs felt a smile cross her face at the sight of him, and he tried to hide himself unsuccessfully underneath his napkin. _Still the same old Severus,_ she thought with a sigh. She saw Professor McGonagall beckoning her to the table, but she halted her with her hand and gestured to the door behind her. With a quick smile, McGonagall turned back to the students.

"But, I am forgetting something. May I also introduce Nicholas and Katrina Snape, her children."

A tall boy with clear blue eyes and black hair emerged from the shadows, along with a small girl who, with her light brown hair and pale green eyes, did not seem to resemble either himself or his mother. She beamed around at the student body, whilst Nicholas ignored them altogether.

Ron leaned in to Harry and Hermione at the Gryffindor table, and murmured: "Not very friendly, is he? Maybe we should sneak into his room and short-sheet his bed!"

Hermione shook her head in disapproval. "Ron, I'm going to give you about ten reasons of why you shouldn't even talk about those kinds of things! One, he could be perfectly nice, just a little nervous being with so many new people; Two—"

"But he's a Snape! What other kinds of reasons do you need?!"

"Just because his last name is Snape doesn't mean—"

"What it _means,_ Miss High-and-Mighty, is that he deserves everything he gets!"

Harry shushed them as McGonagall began to speak once more. Hermione turned a shade of pink as she realised her favourite teacher was staring rather pointedly at her, with an annoyed look on her face. Ron rolled his eyes and, grasping his glass, gulped down the last of his pumpkin juice as the professor continued to speak.

"I'd like for you all to make them feel as much at home as is possible. We have used their previous sortings back at Durmstrang—" at this name, Hermione winced, "—to determine their house placings here. Katrina will join the ranks of Gryffindor, while Nicholas shall find his place in the house of Ravenclaw. Please, make them welcome!" McGonagall began to clap, and gestured to the others to follow. As Katrina skipped happily to a spot at the Gryffindor table, Nicholas walked slowly to the Ravenclaw table, Hermione gave Ron a pointed look and clapped heartily, while most of the houses whispered amongst themselves about the new students. Ron gave a sigh of defeat as they began to recommence their breakfasts.

Hermione was immersing herself in her now rather lukewarm eggs when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned and saw Ginny standing there, a rather excited look upon her freckled face. "Gin, what is it?" she questioned.

Ginny's face broke out into a sudden smile, and she began to whisper anxiously. "Did you see him?"

"Who?"

"_HIM!_ You can't tell me that you didn't notice! That hair…those eyes." 

Hermione had never seen Ginny in a state like this before. "Ginny, what in the world…" And then she saw who she was staring at. "Oh."

Ginny jumped. "Oh?_ OH?!_ Have you no eyes, Hermione?!" 

People were starting to stare at them curiously, and Hermione felt her face flush red. "Well, I meant that 'oh' in a completely appreciative way, Gin." 

The other girl rolled her eyes. "Whatever!" she sang, and she flicked her red hair over her shoulder as she returned to her seat.

Hermione shook her head in amazement. _I don't even think I want to know what that was all about,_ she thought. She played around with her food for a minute or two, pondering the situation.

"Hey, Herm—d'you want that?"

She was brought suddenly from her reverie. "Huh?" she asked.

"Your breakfast. You've been doing everything but eating it for the past ten minutes, so I thought if you didn't want it…waste not, want not, Herm."

She sighed. "Sure, take it." Pushing her plate across the table to Ron, who was salivating at the thought of more food, she muttered, "I wasn't hungry anyway." She rested her head on the table for a moment, wondering what was wrong with the world today.

An odd burning sensation came over her back, and she sat up, startled. It felt like…eyes. She glanced behind her, to the Ravenclaw table, and saw Nicholas staring at her, a strange expression on his face. Hermione looked away, back to Gryffindor, and after a moment she felt his gaze leave her. Breathing a sigh of relief, she settled back down on the table, but something nagged at the back of her mind. _His eyes…_ she thought, and then it occurred to her. _They were full of…fear?_


End file.
